The Boy Scouts of America
Have Declared Bankruptcy
If You Are A Victim Of Sexual Abuse You Have
A Limited Time To File Your Claim- Act Now!
Listen to Paul Mones on NPR Discuss the Boy Scouts of America Bankruptcy
On February 18, 2020 the Boy Scouts of America filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This was not unexpected. This bankruptcy happened because the Boy Scouts failed to protect young boys from sexual abuse by scout leaders- a problem it has known about for decades. Here is basically a blueprint of what we suspect will happen to victims of Boy Scout sexual abuse in the Scout bankruptcy. Please contact Attorney Paul Mones, if you have any questions after reading this overview.
What is Chapter 11 Bankruptcy?
When most people hear the word bankruptcy, they think of businesses selling off all their merchandise and going out of business. However, there is another type of bankruptcy, called reorganization bankruptcy, or Chapter 11 Bankruptcy which allows organizations to survive and thrive post-bankruptcy.
An organization that files for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 has the opportunity to renegotiate debts, liquidate only certain assets, downsize or retool operations, and negotiate settlements in pending litigation so they can continue to operate instead of shutting down. It is this last benefit of filing under Chapter 11 — the ability to negotiate settlements in pending litigation — that is of greatest interest to anyone who was abused by BSA volunteers or staff. Equally important as well is the ability to negotiate settlements with those who have a would have a right to file claims but have not done so.
When an organization files for bankruptcy, all the legal claims against it are put on hold. It is like someone has hit a giant pause button. In situations where there are an unknown number of potential creditors — aka victims — waiting to file a lawsuit, the court will allow the bankruptcy filer to set aside a pot money to settle all current and potential lawsuits against it.
A Big Pot Of Money Is A Good Thing, Right?
Setting aside a pot of money that can be used to compensate victims has both positive and negative aspects to it,
It’s good for victims because having a formalized claims process and a guaranteed funding source makes it easy for people to file a claim, get compensated, and move on with their lives.
The downside to setting up a bankruptcy trust is that victims often have a very small window of time to make a claim. Instead of having years to come forward, victims may only have a few months. This is especially bad in sexual abuse cases where it might take years for victims to realize what happened to them was abuse, or may need lots of time to process what happened to them before they are comfortable coming forward.
Moving Forward – the Next Steps
Over the next few weeks, a creditors committee will be formed which will be selected by the United States Bankruptcy Trustee in Wilmington, Delaware. This creditors committee will be made up of what the US Bankruptcy Trustee determines to be a representative group of Boy Scout sexual abuse victims.
The Bankruptcy Court will soon establish a bar date within which time all victims of Boy Scout sexual abuse must come forward. That date is presently unknown but when it is established victims will most likely have a matter of months not years to come forward. Therefore someone from our office will be in touch with specific information on the next steps. If you have questions about filing a claim or you think you might have a claim but you are not sure, now is the time to act. Please contact us to schedule an initial consultation.
Attorney Paul Mones appeared before the Bankruptcy Court on February 19, 2020. He will continue to closely monitor this case and will share updates as they become available.
These men rightly sought to have the Boy Scouts held accountable in a court of law for the harm they suffered. Since 2010 Paul Mones has been privileged to represent former scouts from around the nation to obtain the justice they so deserve. These lawsuits brought by Paul Mones have helped to force the Boy Scouts to deal with its horrendous and tragic legacy of sexual abuse. While the BSA has admitted that the mounting costs of these lawsuits have placed a great financial strain on the organization, it is also filing for bankruptcy, because it has been hit with the double whammy of declining enrollment and the abandoning of the Boy Scouts by the Latter Day Saints (Mormon Church) because the Scouts allowed gay boys to join the organization.
Now that the Boy Scouts filed for bankruptcy, many lawyers from all over the nation will advertise to represent victims in bankruptcy court. The unfortunate reality is that very few of these attorneys have significant experience litigating against the Boy Scouts as that possessed by Paul Mones. Therefore before you consider hiring an attorney to represent you in the Boy Scout bankruptcy, please make sure that you look closely at their experience and expertise in handling Boy Scout cases. Paul Mones has been litigating against the Boy Scouts of America for over 15 years. In addition to his understanding of the problems faced by victims of scoutmaster sexual abuse, his years of work against the Boy Scouts have given him a thorough understanding of the organization and its structure.
If you are a victim of sexual abuse in the Boy Scouts, please contact Paul Mones today for FREE consultation about any potential case you may have.
Paul Mones has a proven track record in represented abuse survivors for over three decades *
Attorney Paul Mones has been representing victims years before sexual abuse became the prominent issue it is today. He is a skilled trial lawyer who has obtained tens of millions of dollars for his clients in verdicts and settlements against a wide variety of institutions. For example, in 2010, he won a 19.8-million-dollar jury verdict against the Boy Scouts of America. This was the largest verdict ever rendered against that organization. And in 2007 he and his co-counsel won an 11.45 million-dollar jury verdict against a Catholic Diocese in the New York. According to www.bishopaccountability.org the verdict remains to this day the largest verdict ever rendered against a Diocese in New York and one of the largest jury verdicts ever rendered against a Diocese anywhere in the United States.
In 2010 against the Boy Scouts of America on behalf of one scout sexual abused by his scoutmaster.
Jury verdict in 2007 against the Diocese of Rockville Centre on behalf of two teens sexually abused by their music minister.
On behalf of 4 victims molested in a youth organization.
On behalf of a boy molested in a youth organization.
Settlement on behalf of a student sexually abused in a California school.
On behalf of 4 victims molested in a youth organization.
See Paul’s comments to the Wall Street Journal on the payouts in the Boy Scout Bankruptcy
Boy Scouts of America will begin to compensate survivors of sexual abuse
